Contaminated fuel

[Jamz]

Been a while since i filled up with Tesco petrol.... I use Total now, and im getting much better MPG and a much happyer car!

My car used to be sluggish on Tesco petrol, but with a bit of redex on the fuel, it put it back to normal.

[Drifter]

Up here, I can tell the difference between Asda and Tesco fuel. Asda is utter crap and slows the car down (their diesel is just as bad). Tesco is far better, I can't tell the difference between that and Shell fuel TBH

[sez]

i might give my car a treat next time i fill up n put BP ulitmate or the shell vpower in

[nsmith]

Well my new baby got £50s worth of Excellum from total today and it goes better that Bletchleys demo which drinks Ultimate. Never gonna go near a Tesco or Morrisons station again tho. If it can happen once it can happen again.

[sez]

true how much does it cost to fill the tank?? or was the petrol expencive?

[Drifter]

Be aware that 1.3's and 1.5's are tuned to run on 95 RON fuel, and not on V-Power and the like. At best there'll be no difference, at worst the engine will run badly. All you'll do is cost yourself more for no gain.

The Sport is tuned to run on Super / V-Power etc. and doesn't run so well on the normal stuff.

[IanL]

Be aware that 1.3's and 1.5's are tuned to run on 95 RON fuel, and not on V-Power and the like. At best there'll be no difference, at worst the engine will run badly. All you'll do is cost yourself more for no gain.

You're quite right that there will be no gain, but I would not expect the engine to run badly on a higher Octane rating.

[ClubCappo]

The difference between the ordinary unleadeds and the supers is also the additives that are used. Some people will swear that the ones in the super are better and make the car feel/run better. It's not all down to octane perhaps.

[yes2mud]

The additive package in v-power is a bit better than in the 95 fuel. So while a car not requiring super petrol will see little performance increase,it may start to feel better due to the detergent part of the package.This will fetch laquer off valve guides and carbon off the back off the valve,so improving breathing a bit.It also cleans the injectors.A car run regularly on budget fuels from supermarkets could benefit more than one run routinely on 95 from Shell,esso,Texaco etc. A couple of tanks full can be a good investment,now and then.

[IanL]

Can you, I wonder, buy the detergent additive separately? I have previously bought a fuel injector cleaner - would that be the same thing?

[penguinblue]

Can you, I wonder, buy the detergent additive separately? I have previously bought a fuel injector cleaner - would that be the same thing?

STP used to do a detergent petrol additive although I haven't seen it for a while now, I think these days you shouldn't need to add anything to your petrol. I remember 20 years ago using Redex on my Mazda 323 GT to clean the carbs and Slick 50 oil additive but with todays modern fuels and oils I would have thought they should have everything in them to keep the injectors, fuel system etc clean.

[nsmith]

The fuel was a little expensive but the company paid so i dont particularly care, we also put some in to the new demo so it prob worked out around £45 into mine, and its a 45 litre tank.

Scary thing is, 2 days and 125 miles into ownership, the car has drunk half of it!!!! But i have been driving it a little hard so cant complain.

[yes2mud]

Can you, I wonder, buy the detergent additive separately? I have previously bought a fuel injector cleaner - would that be the same thing?

No,sorry IanL,you would not be able to purchase the additive seperately.
The components will be either made at Shell or sourced from various suppliers.Then mixed at the correct level and added usually at the storage/distribution depot.There is much research going on to reduce or eliminate various nasties like benzine and chlorine from fuels.So it's a continuous process finding things to replace them, but performing as well too.
When a series of tests prove successfull,then you get your "new"product like v-power announced and marketed.
Having said all that,I find the "one shot" Redex injector cleaner gives good results,even with a newish engine.

[PeterWestSussex]

The additive package in v-power is a bit better than in the 95 fuel. So while a car not requiring super petrol will see little performance increase,it may start to feel better due to the detergent part of the package.This will fetch laquer off valve guides and carbon off the back of the valve,so improving breathing a bit.
It also cleans the injectors.A car run regularly on budget fuels from supermarkets could benefit most compared with one run routinely on 95 from Shell,Esso,Texaco etc.

Amazing - this topic has lain dormant for over 7 years!
I have just completed a one year trial using Shell V-power (prompted by the Daily Telegraph's Honest John's recommendations fro0m time to time.
The mpg improvement on my VW Up! was negligible, so not worth the extra £££s. BUT .. the torque from that little 3-cylinder engine (which performed amazingly before the trial) was definitely improved. So, for the extra cost I have better pulling power, less gear and clutch wear and a cleaner engine.

[PeterWestSussex]

UPDATE:
V-power is now 12p/litre more than Regular, so at the recommendation of the Service dept at my local Suzuki dealership, I'm now running on Regular plus REDEX (on both up! and Wagon R). Currently, Wilko are selling it at half price, so its costing me £1 extra per tankful (and that's double dosing for the Wagon R, as per the Redex label!) instead of £3.60 for V-power.